Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology offer
- POD Reference
- TOES20251212022
- Term of Validity
- 12 December 2025 - 12 December 2026
- Company's Country
- Spain
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
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General information
- Short Summary
- Advanced process for manufacturing fiber optic sensors (FOS) with customizable nickel coatings from a few to several hundred microns. Enables tailored protection for temperature and strain monitoring in ultra-harsh environments (up to 1000 °C, corrosive or high-stress). Validated in energy, naval, and aerospace pilots, it has reached TRL 8 and is ready where conventional FOS fail.
- Full Description
-
FRONTIER is an advanced manufacturing process for fiber optic sensors (FOS) that enables the deposition of a tailored nickel coating, with thicknesses ranging from tens to hundreds of microns, adaptable to the specific demands of each application—unlike commercial solutions that typically use fixed 50 μm coatings of Cu, Al, or Au. This robust coating dramatically enhances mechanical integrity, thermal stability, and corrosion resistance, enabling accurate and simultaneous monitoring of temperature and strain in environments with sustained temperatures above 800 °C (peaks up to 1000 °C) and aggressive chemical or mechanical stress. Conventional FOS fail under these conditions due to hydrogen ingress, bonding failures, or material degradation.
Current state-of-the-art solutions do not offer reliable, integrated sensing of both temperature and strain under these extreme conditions, leaving a critical gap in the market. FRONTIER fills this gap with a unique, high-performance solution that is currently undergoing patenting and is ready for deployment.
The main application fields for FRONTIER include the energy, naval and aerospace where the technology has been successfully validated through pilot projects. FRONTIER has proven particularly effective for high-temperature processes (e.g., biomass and combined-cycle boilers), structural health monitoring in energy storage systems (e.g., CSP plants), and condition monitoring of hard-to-access components (e.g., bearings in naval engines). Its ability to embed sensors directly into metallic components further expands its applicability to areas such as aviation engines, where resistance to extreme temperatures and corrosion is essential. Other promising sectors, where validation is still pending, include the nuclear and metal casting industries.
The desired cooperation is focused on establishing a long-term technology licensing agreement encompassing both the coating process and the equipment used for fiber production, currently under patenting. However, as an intermediate step—based on market feedback—it has been considered to initiate collaboration through the production of small, made-to-order fiber batches over a limited period. This practical phase is enabling international partners and end-users to test the product in real-world applications, fostering mutual understanding and trust. We see this cooperation evolving into a structured, long-term commitment, with clearly defined roles for technology transfer, joint validation activities, and potential scale-up strategies supported by a collaborative framework. - Advantages and Innovations
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FRONTIER represents a significant technological breakthrough in the monitoring of high-temperature, harsh, and corrosive environments. Traditional FOS technology has been widely used, but it faces a key challenge: the inability to withstand extreme conditions, such as prolonged exposure to temperatures above 800ºC or aggressive industrial environments.
The core innovation lies in AIMEN’s development of a nickel-based metallic coating, with a tunable thickness up to hundreds of microns mm—compared to the standard 50 μm in commercial solutions. This robust coating significantly enhances the mechanical strength, thermal stability, and environmental resistance of FOS, enabling them to effectively monitor temperature and strain in ultra-harsh environments, offering the following competitive advantages:
• Higher mechanical stress resistance: FRONTIER’s metal-coated FOS are capable of withstanding higher mechanical stresses, in industrial environments, when coupled to structures (via welding or adhesives). Competing solutions with metal coatings up to 50 μm are insufficient, often leading to sudden failures under localized stress.
• Minimized thermal degradationThe FRONTIER technology applies a specially developed nickel coating that effectively shields the silica-based optical fiber from thermal degradation in extreme environments. While SiO₂ is inherently stable at high temperatures, this stability diminishes at the microscale and under intense thermal gradients. Standard commercial coatings are insufficient to withstand temperatures around 800 °C. Studies conducted with the FRONTIER technology have demonstrated that a minimum coating thickness of 150 μm is required to ensure reliable and long-term performance under these conditions.
• Endurance of high-temperature embedding processes: FRONTIER’s Ni coated FOS endure high-temperature embedding processes, such as TIG or laser welding, which reach temperatures over 1,000°C. - Stage of Development
- Available for demonstration
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- IPR status
- IPR applied but not yet granted
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
-
We are looking for a specialty fiber optic sensor manufacturer or technology provider specialized in
advanced coating techniques for FOS, targeting applications in harsh environments, such as high temperature (>700 °C) conditions, strain monitoring, or embedded sensing. - Type and Size of Partner
- SME 11-49
- Big company
- SME 50 - 249
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 01002004 - Embedded Systems and Real Time Systems
- 04001002 - Heat transport and supply, district heating
- 02002002 - Coatings
- 04001001 - Heat storage
- Market keywords
- 06010003 - Energy for Industry
- 03006 - Fibre Optics
- 06008 - Energy Storage
- 06003006 - Combined heat and power (co-generation)
- Sector Groups Involved
- Energy-Intensive Industries - Materials
- Renewable Energy
- Electronics
- Maritime Industries and Services
- Aerospace and Defence
- Targeted countries
- Afghanistan
- Aland Islands
- Albania
- Algeria
- American Samoa
- Andorra
- Angola
- Anguilla
- Antarctica
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Aruba
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bermuda
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Bouvet Island
- Brazil
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- British Virgin Islands
- Brunei
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cabo Verde
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Cayman Islands
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- China
- Christmas Island
- Cocos Islands
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Cook Islands
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Curacao
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Falkland Islands
- Faroe Islands
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- French Guiana
- French Southern Territories
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Greenland
- Grenada
- Guadeloupe
- Guam
- Guatemala
- Guernsey
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Heard Island and McDonald Islands
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Isle of Man
- Israel
- Italy
- Ivory Coast
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jersey
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macao
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Martinique
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mayotte
- Mexico
- Micronesia
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Montserrat
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- Netherlands Antilles
- New Caledonia
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Niue
- Norfolk Island
- North Korea
- North Macedonia
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Palestinian Territory
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Pitcairn
- Poland
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Republic of the Congo
- Reunion
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saint Barthelemy
- Saint Helena
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Martin
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- San Marino
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Sint Maarten
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Svalbard and Jan Mayen
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Timor Leste
- Togo
- Tokelau
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Tuvalu
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
- United States Minor Outlying Islands
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Vatican
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Wallis and Futuna
- Western Sahara
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
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Technology_Offer_FRONTIER